Michigan State Soccer Coach Damon Rensing discusses the top players for the 2012 Michigan State Men's Soccer team.

Kylie Stannard joined the Michigan State soccer coaching staff July 1, 2009 after serving as the assistant coach at Northern Illinois for the previous four seasons. Stannard was promoted to associate head coach in preparation of the 2014 season.

The 2014 season marked the No. 17 national recruiting class as named by Top Drawer Soccer thanks in part to Stannard's efforts.

In 2013, Stannard was instrumental in helping to guide the MSU soccer team in a record-breaking season. The Spartans earned a program-record 14 wins en route to the NCAA Elite Eight, their first appearance in the round of eight since 1968. In recognition, Stannard was named the 2013 Great Lakes Region Assistant Coach of the Year by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) and was named one of the Top-15 assistant coaches in the nation by College Soccer News for the second consecutive year. In the classroom, Stannard's guidance led to the second consecutive NSCAA Team Academic award.

Stannard has helped lead the Spartans to four NCAA Tournament bids over the last five years, including a run to the Elite Eight last season, the Sweet 16 in 2010 (where MSU lost to UNC on penalty kicks), and a Big Ten Tournament title and appearance in the round of 32 in 2012. During his tenure on Damon Rensing's staff, Stannard has helped MSU re-establish itself in the national picture, consistently taking on top-10 competition and compiling victories over perennial powers Maryland, Akron, Notre Dame, Georgetown and Indiana, among others.

In the spring of 2012, Stannard was named the first-ever head coach of Detroit City FC of the National Premire Soccer League, which plays its games at Cass Tech high school in Detroit. He guided Le Rouge to a 5-2-5 overall record (good for second in its division) with a team featuring former Spartans Spencer Thompson, Josh Rogers, Craig Hearn, and Jeremy Clark.

Stannard has helped bring Top-40 recruiting classes to the Spartans, which includes the No. 8 recruiting class in 2012, the highest-ranked class in the Big Ten. In addition, the program achieved the highest men's team GPA at Michigan State in 2013.

While at NIU, Stannard worked under two-time MAC Coach of the Year, Steve Simmons. The Huskies won a total of 44 games in the four seasons of Stannard's tenure and went to the second round of the NCAA College Cup in 2006. A 2001 graduate of Creighton University, Stannard has his United States Soccer Federation (USSF) National "A" Coaching License and his NSCAA Premier Diploma. With the Bluejays, Stannard became accustomed to success as Creighton reached the NCAA College Cup Elite Eight on two occasions and advanced to the Final Four his freshman season. In all, Stannard helped the Bluejays to a total of 60 wins in his four-year career.

Stannard is a native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he earned first-team all-state, all-metro and all-district honors while at Washington High School. He now holds a spot in the Washington High School Hall of Fame. He earned his master's degree in sports management from Northern Illinois. Stannard is married to the former Alicja Czajka, who holds seven track and field records at NIU, and is pursuing her PhD in kinesiology from Michigan State.